


Creative License

by VenusInCancer



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games), Mortal Kombat - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Attempt at Humor, Injuries (referenced), Johnny Cage accidental matchmaker, Light Angst, M/M, MK9 Stryker tower inspired, Pining, Stryker is an angsty boi, Stryker/Kabal - Freeform, Swearing, Violence (referenced), arrogant Johnny but he means well, fair amount of swearing yeah, fluff?, good guy Kabal, pre-burnt kabal, regular old cops AU, strykabal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 14:04:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20175475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenusInCancer/pseuds/VenusInCancer
Summary: AU-ish one-shot that piggybacks off of Stryker's MK9 tower where he saved the world and shot down a movie deal because he refused to let Johnny Cage play him... He didn't save the world, but it's a big enough case to make the news and pique the curiosity of a certain action star. Only, Stryker doesn't want the publicity. Because reasons. Mostly, how he feels about his partner, Kabal.A Teen rating would probably suffice, but Kabal has a foul mouth.





	Creative License

**Author's Note:**

> I am so back and forth on the way they explained Kabal being good in MK9, but retconning that and making him a crooked cop who fed info to Kano is worse, so...? I love good guy Kabal, but the execution on it wasn't the greatest.  
Anyway, here's my shitty characterization of good-guy-who-was-once-a-bad-guy-but-maybe-still-has-some-demons Kabal? And equally shitty Stryker characterization, which I have zero excuses for. Don't mistake Stryker's feelings for Johnny as mine, plz. I love him.

_Hero cop is box office gold. _

__

_It's what Johnny Fucking Cage says when he calls the station and says he wants to talk to Stryker about doing a movie._

__

_A movie._

__

_About the bust._

__

_But not just about the bust. About him. About the man behind the bust._

__

_ It's no big deal. He was just doing his job. Maybe it's that Stryker's not one for the spotlight. He knows it's more than that, though._

* * *

There's just way too much testosterone and training equipment in Johnny Cage's NYC office, where they've agreed to meet, and that's coming from a cop. Lots of neon, too. He's even got the place decorated with his own movie posters.

Self-deluded, much?

Cage dismisses the suit that escorted Stryker in with a flippant flick of the wrist and shuts the door behind the both of them. Motions for Stryker to have a seat. Does the same.

Cage explains he flew in from L.A. _just_ to talk to Stryker. Making this movie happen means that much to him.

Doesn't even consider taking off his sunglasses, as he puts his feet up on the desk and leans back. His shoes are hideously bright, and look like he hasn't taken a single step outside in them.

Stryker is sure he hates the man. He tries to remind himself that first impressions aren't everything. He hated Kabal when they first met. Thought _he_ was a fraud, too.

* * *

_He's got two black eyes, split lips, scratches and scrapes, and what look to be a couple of burns on his face, too. A good slice across and _through_ one eyebrow that's been stitched. His right arm is bandaged all around the forearm, and his hair's not in its usual ponytail. Kabal's bruised and cut to shit everywhere else, no doubt. It's just under his clothes where Stryker can't see it. He knows there were—_are_—broken ribs, and Kabal spent a night in the hospital before checking himself out against medical advice._

“_Fuck, your face,” Stryker swears, without really thinking it through._

“_Don't think I'm up for a face fucking. You're gonna have to give me a couple days to heal.” Kabal does his best not to wince as he sits down at his desk. “Could maybe just have a couple of beers to celebrate case closed instead?”_

“_What the hell are you doing here?” Well, it's a good question, even if Stryker feels _and_ sounds like an asshole for asking it._

“_I work here.”_

“_You're on medical leave. You look like shit.”_

“_Been in way worse scrapes. Don't forget who you're dealing with_._” There's a little bit of anger in Kabal's words. A little bit of anger and a whole lotta defiance._

_Stryker won't._

_Somewhere along the way the suspicion he regarded Kabal with has become genuine fondness. Still, a person doesn't just walk away from the Black Dragon and decide to become a cop._

_A person doesn't just walk away from the Black Dragon is what. Not for lack of want, or effort, sure. There's probably been other attempts. _

_None successful._

One_ successful._

* * *

Is Stryker a natural blond? How much does he bench? Because Johnny wants to get it right, when he's prepping for the part. He'll bulk up. He's method.

But first, he's just gotta ask: Stryker didn't _really_ go against plan and singlehandedly storm a syndicate stronghold to rescue his partner? Because that shit only happens in the movies. Seriously, Johnny knows.

Stryker nods.

Cage whistles and shakes his head. Declares that she must be real special to Stryker.

Stryker corrects Johnny:_ he_.

Well then why'd Stryker go busting in, all white-knight? All machismo and gunfire, like he was there to save some damsel in distress.

Because they're partners and Kabal had been compromised. Wasn't about anything but bringing down the Red Dragon and making sure they didn't have a chance to cash in on the goldmine they found in Kabal.

Once they learned who he was, and they couldn't break him—that they could torture him until he died and he'd never talk... That's just what they'd have done. Hell, that's exactly what they were doing when Stryker got to him.

Just what is Cage hinting at, though?

* * *

“_Johnny Cage. _The_ Johnny Cage. Wants to do a movie. About the case.” Kabal's shaking his head, but there's some light in his eyes. Maybe the brightness is just imagined, against the dark of all the bruises._

_Stryker's taken him up on getting a beer, even though he knows it's not a good idea._

_Number one, Kabal's not supposed to be drinking with his pain meds. If he's even taking them. Number two, he didn't get a beer. Never does. Goes 90 proof right out of the gate._

_Stryker just exhales. “Yup.”_

“_Wow.”_

“_Right? No way in hell.”_

“_Well, I mean, he'll have to bleach his hair. _Definitely_ put on some mass.” Kabal pauses. Suddenly looks pissed, like he's had a revelation about something and doesn't like it. “They're gonna cast some pansy ass to play me, because of the way you stormed in and rescued me like like some fucking punk—” _

“_It doesn't matter,” Stryker tries to protest. That never works well. It goes even worse when there's liquor involved._

_Because Kabal's pushing back, “The hell it doesn't.”_

“_It doesn't matter, because it's never gonna happen.”_

“_You're turning him down?”_

“_I've been doing _nothing but_ turn him down since the first time he called.”_

_Kabal's incredulous. “How many times has he called? What the hell is your problem?”_

_Stryker sighs. Honestly admits, “I don't get why he's making such a big deal out of it. Just—”_

“_—doing your job. Yeah. You brought down the Red Dragon.”_

“_Wasn't just me.”_

“_Yeah, it was.” Kabal lifts his empty glass and shakes it to signal the bartender he's ready for another._

_He's not._

* * *

The action'll be good, swear. Johnny oversees all of the choreography on his movies. Does all of his own stunts, too.

He'll make sure everything goes off without a hitch. Goes smooth. According to plan. Money's no object, either.

Whatever it takes, right? Consequences be damned.

* * *

_It's not the first time Stryker's brought a guy home from a bar after work. They don't usually end up in separate quarters, though._

_Then again, it's not just any guy. It's Kabal. He's gonna feel it in the morning, whether or not he _remembers_ any of it. He's still got that dangerous edge to him and it comes out every now and again. _

_Stryker's a lying sack of shit if he tells anyone, including himself, that isn't part of the attraction._

_Or that there isn't one._

“Johnny Cage as Kurtis Stryker!”_ Kabal lets out this snort-laugh hybrid, from his position on the couch where Stryker more or less dumped him. He's drunk, and there's a roughness to his laughter, though. Still sort of musical, but it's the kind of song Stryker usually hits skip on. _

_Stryker groans and it earns him another chuckle from Kabal. It's less rough, but it's not lost on him the way Kabal keeps grabbing for his ribs._

_Right. Broken._

_Kabal's got his head leaned against the back of the sofa and he's staring at the ceiling. He muses, “Some of his movies aren't bad. Okay, they're bad. But they're good, too...? Good bad? Bad good?” _

_Stryker wants to say, _'that's not a thing' _but it makes sense. At least it makes sense to _him_ why it makes sense to _Kabal_. He sits on the edge of that knife, doesn't he? Or maybe it's that he doesn't think he belongs in the good category, even now. _

“_Except Ninja Mime 4.” Kabal sounds so angry over that, of all things. “_Ninja Mime 4 was bullshit_.”_

_It'd be funny to see if it wasn't also sort of scary. To see Kabal equal parts unhinged and unguarded. Stryker just says, “I'll take your word for it.”_

_Kabal offers a lazy shrug. “You should do it, or let him do it, or whatever.” _

“_I don't think so.”_

“I_ would.”_

_He probably would._

“_And ditch your ass when I got famous. It's lonely at the top, isn't it?”_

“_I think you should try to get some sleep. I'll drop you home on my way to the station tomorrow.”_

_Stryker turns to leave the room. Gets called back by an uncharacteristically soft, and surprisingly sober sounding voice, considering. “Kurt?”_

_First name. Fuck._

“_Why'd you really bring me here?”_

“_Because you're three sheets to the wind and still have broken bones.”_

“Okay_.” Kabal drops it. _

_Stryker's not sure Kabal wants to drop it, though. Or that _he_ wants Kabal to._

* * *

The movie's not gonna be _all_ action, though. That's part of what Johnny loves about this. Wants to branch out. Prove he's not just some one-trick pony. Drama, suspense, romance. He's in it to tell a well-rounded story.

Doesn't seem terribly concerned with it being a true story anymore. Probably never was. Creative license or something.

Cage takes his feet off the desk and leans forward. It's clear he wants Stryker to know he's serious about this. “I get why you've got reservations. But there's stuff we can do, you know, to preserve your anonymity.”

“That ship's sailed,” Stryker snorts.

“I mean, to protect your privacy and stuff. Listen, _never_ would've guessed before meeting you.”

Guessed what?

“Personally, I think it's awesome. Adds a whole new level to the movie I never considered before.”

What the hell is he getting at?

“We'll just scrap the intro where your fiance is killed by the gang leader, since it's no longer your motivation for taking 'em all down. And then make the partner character a chick so no one's the wiser when it gets hot n' steamy between you two.”

“What? We're not—whatever ideas you have about me and Kabal, get 'em the hell outta your thick head.”

“_Oh_. You two _aren't_— _You_ just wanna be. Gotcha. It's _unrequited_. Lips. Sealed.”

Lips split is more like it.

_Hero Cop Assaults Martial Arts Star._

* * *

Things slowly get back to normal. Kabal's bruises fade, and the ribs, the scrapes, the cuts all heal. The particularly nasty gash above his eyebrow scars. The bandage on his right arm comes off.

It reveals another would-be scar—big, and raised, and uneven—all around the forearm, where his tattoo used to be.

The local stations stop replaying the press conference, stop showing the footage of Stryker hauling Daegon out in cuffs. There was never any film of Mavado coming out in a body bag, along with the rest of the casualties. But it'd be old news, too, by now.

The articles in the paper get smaller. Full-page becomes half-page, half-page becomes blurb. Blurb becomes nothing.

Johnny Cage stops calling, too. That part isn't too surprising, considering how the face-to-face with Stryker went.

He's in town filming something or other.

“_If it's Ninja Mime 5, swear to Christ—”_

Stryker doesn't know what it is. Just knows what it's _not_. Knows a lot about what things aren't.

Hasn't said a word to Kabal about his chat with Johnny. The one that finally set the actor straight.

How’s that for irony?

Doesn't plan to, either. Except—

It's awkward eye contact, when Stryker looks up from where he's been staring at the thick, map-like healing wound on Kabal's arm.

Gets a _you got something to say? s_ort of look.

Stryker finally asks, “You gonna tell me how it happened?”

“Oh, I think you can figure it out.” Kabal shrugs. “I wanted to have it removed anyway. Cop with a gang tattoo? It's pretty tasteless.”

“You were planning to cover it up.” Not have it burned off by the Red Dragon.

“It's gone now. What's it matter?”

It's unprovoked, and Stryker avoids looking at Kabal when he admits, “I punched Johnny Cage in the face.”

Kabal's eyes widen. “You fucking what? When? Why?”

“He wanted to turn you into a chick.”

“Does he have _people_ for that, or...?”

“In the movie. So I could—_we_ could—”

“_Gotcha_. Why didn't he just have your girlfriend killed by the bad guy at the beginning, to... I dunno, set you on the path of vengeance?”

“He wanted to.” Stryker pauses. “Until he actually met me and decided that I have a thing for you.”

Kabal nods slowly, very mulling-it-over. He's doing a shit job of hiding a smirk. “And since the world's not ready for a gay buddy cop movie, I get a vagina. Just what I've always wanted.” He scoffs. “Like to punch him myself. Make me into a chick.”

“That's your problem with this?”

Kabal's got a look on his face that's somewhere between _way too damn amused_ and _duh_. “Well, yeah.”

“Your _only_ problem with this?”

Kabal rolls his eyes. Shrugs. Nods. “Why? What's _your_ problem with it?”

It's quiet so long that Stryker might as well just say it. The silence already has, so he admits, “Problem is that he's right.”

That a clueless, egotistical shmuck like Johnny Cage read Stryker like a book and had the balls to give him that utterly unsolicited, but accurate as hell report right after.

“You should really call him. Or arrange for a visit to the set. Might be difficult since you _fucking punched him_, but I'm sure you can swing it. You're very charming.”

“The hell I am.”

“Just sayin', you should thank him,” Kabal's insisting.

Seriously, what the hell for?

“Because it's about damn time you got to do something besides your job.”

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly feel so bad for dejected, rejected Johnny in Stryker's ending. Like, let the man have the part. He might knock it outta the park, Stryker. Don't be an asshole. I also can't be the only person who has heard Kabal tell Johnny that Ninja Mime 4 was bullshit. That amused me way too much.  
Anyway, this shit was pure indulgence.


End file.
